1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a program determining apparatus and a program determining method, and particularly relates to a program determining apparatus configured to determine a program for an image forming apparatus and a program determining method of determining a program for an image processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In these years, some of image forming apparatuses called multifunction machines or compound machines can, after their shipment, have developed and installed new applications using published APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-269619). In such an image forming apparatus, not only applications developed by a vendor of the image forming apparatus, but also applications developed by other software vendors may be installed and used.
The resource usage restrictions imposed on built-in type devices such as these image forming apparatuses are stricter than the resource usage restrictions imposed on general purpose computers. Therefore, the restrictions on the resource usage such as memory consumption of applications are previously determined, and the software vendors are required to design applications that can operate within such restrictions (hereinafter referred to as “resource restrictions”).
Meanwhile, the software vendors wish to provide more useful and higher performance applications. Generally, the higher the performance of programs, the higher the memory usage of the programs. If the software vendors place too much focus on the usability for end users, applications not satisfying the resource restrictions might be put on the market.
In the case where plural applications are used in parallel, even if each of the applications satisfies the resource restrictions, the resources of the image forming apparatuses might run out depending on the way users use the applications.
If the resources are used up, the applications are not guaranteed to operate correctly, which results in inconvenience for end users. Furthermore, the vendors of the image forming apparatuses and the vendors who have developed the applications need to investigate the cause of malfunction.